This is trending all over the internet and I'm interested in discussing it with my fellow audio aficionados. Thoughts?

I live in the mid-west, under the umbrella of TWC and Charter neighbors just a couple hours away. Let's discuss!

Quote: The Verge

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the deal will take place. The all-stock deal will reportedly be at $159 per share of Time Warner Cable, a deal with a market value of $44.2 billion according to Barron's calculations. The Wall Street Journal says the companies will merge "in a $45 billion deal." Faber suggests that a Comcast / Time Warner Cable combination will get a tough review from the Federal Communications Commission, as you might expect with a telecom merger of this magnitude. According to Faber, Comcast is willing to shed some 3 million of its subscribers in an attempt to placate regulators.

If Faber's sources are correct, Comcast has managed to snatch Time Warner Cable right out from under a smaller cable company, Charter Communications. Charter has repeatedly tried and failed to buy TWC, offering $37.4 billion for the company just last month. While that was allegedly a lowball offer designed to draw shareholder attention, Charter reportedly brought in Comcast to help seal the deal with a joint proposal. Now, though, it appears Comcast may have decided to swallow TWC whole.

Quote: Engadget

After months of rumors and a public battle with Charter Communications, CNBCreporter David Faber reports that Time Warner Cable will be acquired by Comcast tomorrow. According to sources, the number one cable TV provider in the US make an all-stock deal worth $159 per share (about $44.2 billion) to gobble up the number two provider. Of course, any such agreement would be subject to regulatory approval from the FCC, however Faber indicates Comcast is willing to ditch about 3 million subscribers to make the deal go through. Previous rumors suggested Comcast might split TWC with Charter, but that doesn't appear to be on the table even after Charterproposed a new board of directors for TWC to get its deal done. Another rumor this might put a stake in is today's curiously-timed Apple TV leak, although we'll wait for an official announcement of some kind to judge that.

IMHO, it's all the same - one evil telecom company being consumed by another evil telecom company. Eventually, the last remaining evil telecom companies will be swallowed by the evil media companies. At that point, all media creation, distribution and delivery will all be controlled by a handful of giant companies that will decide what is "best" for everyone. Doublespeak and Room 101 will not be far behind.

I don't think that this would lead to a monopoly by Comcast. There's competition from AT&T, Verizon, DirecTV, and other MSOs like Charter, Cox, etc... Comcast has no wireless service. However, it does provide Comcast an advantage in content negotiation because of its subscriber size.